Just one more week, just a few more nights. The Ravens and Chiefs will kick off the new NFL season in just a few days, and the race to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX will be on.
As we enter the calm before the storm, let’s take this Four Verts column to look at four players who will be among the NFL’s most important players and how their presence can shape the landscape of the league.
Let’s lump the first two sections into one, because these two quarterbacks are pretty much in the same space. Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers are both older quarterbacks coming off torn Achilles tendons and looking to write a new chapter of success on a new team — and they could be the two most important players in the NFL’s altered landscape in 2024.
The Falcons and Jets both have postseason hopes, and those hopes live and die with the performance of each team’s veteran quarterback investments. desperately It has to be said. No position moves things up as much as quarterback, and when good quarterbacks move teams up, the NFL changes. Both of these teams are hoping to put together a solid performance over the final nine games of these players’ careers.
Jets first. It’s a cowardly move to say that everyone has to wait and see what shape Rodgers is in, but it’s true. There’s really no way to know what he’ll look like in live games after his Achilles injury until he’s on the field. His mobility had already declined significantly during his final years in Green Bay, and he’s now 40 after an Achilles injury. Athletically, we’re certainly not going to see the Rodgers of old. But maybe that’s okay.
Beyond the athleticism that made Rodgers such a great player, he has two decades of experience as a good quarterback. That experience against all sorts of defenses will be very important this year as he settles into the athlete he is now. It’s a bit like what Drew Brees was toward the end of his career in New Orleans. Brees’ arm was fading quickly, but his accuracy and experience still allowed him to be a very effective quarterback before his arm strength became untenable. Rodgers’ arm should be in a much better position than Brees’ – there’s room for Rodgers to become a more stoic pocket passer than he’s been known for in his career. He has the reps to make it work, and if he has protection, he should still be effective from the pocket. The off-structure plays won’t be as prevalent, but that’s okay.
Rodgers is the ultimate wild card in the NFL this year. Given all the circumstances surrounding his return, any outcome seems possible for the Jets. He could be anywhere from very good to completely washed out, and it wouldn’t be terribly surprising. If the offensive line can stay healthy, Rodgers has a chance to have a nice bounce-back season from 2022, the last time he actually played. If the Jets can figure out the Haason Reddick situation, they might be able to make a run at the…